1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a device used on social and amusement occasions for scattering a multitude of objects and, more particularly, to a device for, and a method of, scattering confetti with an accompanying popping sound, as well as to a method of making the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Upon social occasions, such as weddings or birthdays, or for purely amusement purposes, such as at carnivals, it is known to scatter confetti upwardly and forwardly into the air, over floors and tables, and over people, particularly the participants of the occasion being celebrated. Representative patents in this art include: U.S. Pat. No. 825,843 discloses a confetti cannon in which confetti and an explosive are mounted within a tube. Upon pulling a detonation string, the confetti is forcefully ejected. U.S. Pat. No. 1,560,326 discloses a confetti gun including a bag formed of two sheets of material sealed about their peripheries.
Confetti is placed within the bag. A discharge tube or neck extends to the bag. By forcefully squeezing and expanding the bag, the confetti is ejected. U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,915 discloses a balloon envelope into which confetti and other items are contained. After inflation, the balloon envelope is punctured, thereby causing the contents thereof to be ejected.
To more reliably scatter the confetti with an accompanying popping sound, I have previously disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,242 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,643 confetti-scattering devices which, although highly satisfactory in operation, were not always effective in practice. My patented devices employed an inflatable envelope having a gas inlet and a confetti-filled pocket at opposite ends of the envelope. In the case where a user exhaled air into the inlet to inflate the envelope, the user held the envelope so that the inlet was at the top of the envelope for placement in one's mouth. This meant that the confetti-filled pocket was located at the bottom of the envelope.
After inflation, the user was instructed to tightly clench his or her fist around the inflated envelope to cause the air to expel the confetti from the pocket. The user was, of course, instructed to invert the envelope prior to clenching his or her fist. Failure to invert the envelope would cause the confetti to be expelled toward the floor or toward the user's body. Nevertheless, many users did not read or follow such instructions with the result that the confetti was not scattered upwardly and forwardly into the air as desired, but instead, was ejected rearwardly and downwardly in the opposite direction to that desired.